One of the reasons I love this style so much is because it looks exactly like my world as a little girl. I wish I could raid my closet and room from then so I could create my own little fairy-kei world again. I’ve realized this is exactly what I’m doing with Colette’s clothes and decor.. she’s getting all those adorable goodies I kept safe! Popples, Baby Brite, Avon character jewelry and more.

I guess I’m probably a big fan of decora too? Seems to be a bit of a difference in color hues with both styles of fashion. I’ve been a long-time lover of decora and that’s because it’s bright and tasty (think Barbie hot pink and an overload of rainbow accessories).

So let’s take a look at what makes fairy-kei special and what makes it different from decora…

Fairy-kei is a candy-coated, marshmallow rainbow-covered delicious arrival in Japanese fashion. As Miseducated and SPANK! often do, it features the cute characters and motifs of the 80s: My Little Pony, Care Bears, Popples, Barbie, etc. The palettes favored seem to be all soft, light hues of the 80s marshmallow rainbow. Fairy-kei uses as many as 6 colors in an outfit, but don’t be too hasty with color — make sure that each of the colors balance each other out. Colors you use should be used at least one other time in the outfit, usually, to add icing on the cake and to tie it all together. Think bows, beads, accessories and pompoms!

Photos are thanks to scans and the lovely places below.

All Dressed Up

Fairy-Kei Tips

If you’re an 80s kid, ransack through any old stuff you kept or stored and see what treasures you can find! It’s like new but has more meaning attached. If you can’t find any try ebay, flea markets and thrift stores for marshmallow rainbow 80s goods. Tutus! They’re easy to find these days and very easy to make. You can make your tutu as simple or as decadent as you like; they’re all sweet when paired with a tee. Pompons, bows, tulle — all in the marshmallow rainbow of fairy-kei — think of making yarn into large pompons for hair and keychains, smaller ones for other accessories. Found some cute 80s fabric but the item is shot? Patch it onto a tee, add some glitter. Don’t wait for your favorite new t-shirt, make it! A big pastel sweater with an alternating color of hair bow. Think big and ridiculously cute! Keep it simple if you like with a black tutu and flats, you can be Fairy-kei inspired without going over the top.

[…] Fairy-kei is the Japanese subculture that is about the unnaturally colored hair. While some girls do like wigs, plenty of girls in this style actually dye their own hair. Due to social constraints in Japan, like getting a job, this is pretty hardcore. For fairy-kei you will see some really cool and colorful dye jobs. Pastels like pink, blue and lilac are obvious choices, but so are neon orange and teal. Tabuchi is well-known for her bright teal and sometimes lime hair. Highlights, tipped bangs, etc, are all very popular. Some girls get braided-in extensions to get that Rainbow Kid look. Kawaii Ambassador of Pop-kei/street style usually rocks super-tight curls with braided-in extensions. If you’re looking for extensions, I’d recommend clip-ins over more permanent methods, so you can change them with your outfits or non-fairy-kei style. Still, natural colors like soft brown, chocolate, and blonde also look cute. Pigtails, poofy giant buns, bobs curved under, etc, are some of the most popular. Curls are done, but if your hair isn’t curly no one will shoot you. Makeup (And Nails) To the best of my knowledge, I haven’t seen any significant makeup trends for fairy-kei. Looking through example photos it seems to be just bright colors, some eyeliner and perhaps false eyelashes. Simply choose your favorite girly makeup up look and add some bright colors like super bright pink blush, or perhaps ‘Marshmallow’, lilac-pink blush from Candy Doll. If you want a more casual style for your nails, any pastel tone will do. I’m currently wearing Essie’s Nice is Nice lilac, with white polka dots I added with a small brush. Fairy-kei girls do like acrylic 3D nails however, usually commissioning unique styles from Japanese nail salons like Care Bears, air-brushed unicorns, or Little Twin Stars. If you can’t find or comission 3D nail art, you can always keep them in a simple glittery style with the requisite color palette. Where To Buy There are some brands that sell fairy-kei and pop-kei style. Here’s how to get your fairy-kei fashion fix: Brands and Online Shopping ManiaQ – lots of rainbow petticoats, vintage style tees and jackets/parkas. SHIPS OVERSEAS! Spank! online store – does not ship overseas; you’ll need a shopping service. New items posted every Sunday at 12 noon Japan time, hurry, things sell out quickly! Electric Alice – Australia based webshop that sells items from 6% Doki Doki, Delilah, MILK, and other brands. Click here to view their fairy-kei section. Refuse to Be Usual – Their ‘Cute Me Up’ section has plenty of fodder for fairy-kei lovers. Swimmer – cute clothing, accessories and homewares. Needs shopping service. KERA shop – sells many of the brands showcased in KERA magazine. Needs a shopping service, but sells Nile Perch, as well as Angelic Pretty, Baby, Dangerous Nude, and others. Chocomint – plenty of fairy-kei worthy accessories! Listen Flavor – punk and pop-kei clothes. We Love Colors – a huge supply of pastel tights. 6% Doki Doki – super-saturated pop-kei and decora-kei style, and most likely the most expensive (nearing lolita brand prices). Needs shopping service. Buy and sell fairy-kei clothing at the community 80s_cuties! I don’t always see something I want, but if you lurk you might find just the thing. I got my ManiaQ hoodie from there! You can also look into buying secondhand on mbok or Yahoo!Japan. I don’t know very much about this area, but it is out there if you’re already familiar with the process. If you’re looking for vintage items to collect or DIY with, you can’t do much better than etsy. I’ve found a plethora of vintage My Little Ponies, Polly Pocket, Rose Petal Place dolls, Lady Lovely Locks Dolls, Lisa Frank stuff… all moderately priced. EBay can also be the place to find vintage sheets or other items, but etsy would be my first choice. Inspiration Station The best way to do fairy-kei is to observe all sorts of coordinates and media and then select what you like and make it your own. With this is mind I have included a lot of my favorite coordinates in photos in this article. Most of them were found on several pop-kei themed tumblrs. If there are any you recognize, please let me know and I will add credit; I don’t claim these photos as my own in any way, they’re simply a teaching guide. Below I’ve included a list of fairy-kei tumblrs. If you want to learn fairy-kei, one of the best things you can do is get a tumblr and start following these cuties. Fairy-kei Tumblrs & Other Sources kyandi – an adorable tumblr run by Kyandi, a great example of fairy-kei and fairy-lolita, plus tons of vintage inspiration like Sailor Moon, 80s Barbie and Creamy Mami. fuckyeahtabuchi – love for the Spank! founder Tabuchi spankgirls – for girls that dress in spank! style fuckyeahpopkeifashion – pop-kei fashion Tabuchi’s lookbook.nu – see what the founder of SPANK! wears every day! Fairy-kei Flickr Group popkei community @ Livejournal Other Articles About Fairy-kei Miseducated.net – Fairy-kei and More 80s Revivalist Fashion […]